Cramps that go from my big toe up to my groin, waking up during the night - I'm always awake by 5.30 which is no good at all, as Ir arely get to sleep before 1am, and total lethargy - I have just done my ironing after 4 weeks. Am so fed up with it, but it does help with my back pain. I am also taking tramadol for pain relief, along with 13 other drugs daily.

Sounds to me like you are not going to a real Pain Management Doctor. If not you need to find one in your area. I found one in Burbank California that will help you fine tune your program. You should not suffer silently. There is a new Board that a doctor can belong to (American Board of Addiction Medicine) Many of these Doctors are Pain Management Physicians along with being an Addiction Physician as they go hand in hand.You need to be cleaned out as something is not mixing. Do your homework and get the help you need.Best to you !!

I also have fibromyalgia & took Lyrica with several side affects such as anxiety & lethargy, as you described, but I have since been given "Vistoril" 50 mg. 3 x day, I am also on other pain meds, though, so I don't know what the vistaril would do just on it's on--I have severe back pain & take Oxycontin & Percocet--for sleep at night, I take 1-50mg trazadone & 1-4 mg zanaflex, and 1-vistaril, 50 mg -- the combination of the 3 pills I mentioned has been giving me sleep for at least 4-5 hours without waking up--& my sleep pattern sounds as bad as yours. I also see a pain specialist, they take care of all of these issues.

Banna2006 sounds like you are a hurting pup. I myself have ankspon, a almost debilitating disease at most times. All tests conclussive that I have it. I wonder though if I have fibro as well. My heavy metals are off the board along with other things. I think you should have a series of blood testing done to provide your health care pro some insight to this possibility and maybe look at cellation therapy, providing your status is not from a mechanical related injury or injuries. We can sometimes be toxic waste dumps in our lives from exposure to poison elements of basic living and working. Sugar as well can be a miserable catalyst for pain. It becomes a nasty chain of events starting from injury, lack of sleep, causing weight gain, depression, perscriptions, a poor clinical history, improper methods of treatment all of which continue the inevitable circle of pain .In Canada it can take up to as much as 3 years to even get into a proper pain management clinic.

In the mean time you have to try and balance your everyday activities including work play and sleep. Not enough sleep is the real killer with chronic pain issues. This directly affects the lives of your loved ones around you. If your partner does not understand the crucial dynamics of pain and its treatment as well as overall outcomes and prognosis frustration sets in with both parties and ultimately both of you lose. My wife left me right after my retirement from the Navy 26 years. Had enough she said and the moods that goes directly with pain. Your children take the brunt of it as well. You are taking some pretty hard meds along with opioids. Have you thought of tramacet. Heard of it? Maybe that is an option as well. I think the worst thing is the narcotis. Weather its oxycontin, vicodin, morphine, and or dilaudid sr, comming off these pose potential risks if not done right. You won't die but it is the nightmare from hell. Its funny eh ..Drs put you on these meds and then they want you off of them because they are either scared and will not increase your dose or better yet give you a narcotic break by switching you to another type of opioid. This does work, I know I requested it for myself. I went from oxycontin 30mg bid with a 10 mg breakthrough to a different one I had been on the same dosage for just over 4 years. Eventually your body gets tollerant to it and it no longer works the same anymore. The narcotic pain med has saved my life. I tried everything in the book and have had many nerve blocks. This is when my specialist has shifted me to lyrica. It is decussion groups like this that one can appreciate the meaning of sharing pain stories, treatment modalities and just plain living with this tormenting life style. No one should live in hell at least not yet,lol. I can be sympathetic with what you are going through,at least understand. You were or are a pretty active person I bet and it sucks that this stuff can alter your life. I was an excellent hockey player a deepsea navy diver avid jogger,bodybuilder etc. I dont know you but you have my attention. I am terrified of this Rx lyrica. Before they wanted to put me on biologics yeh right on doc. The price of this stuff is 4000.00/month yes thats right crazy eh. Good thing for medicare yeh right again. If you don't have a good drug plan forget it. I would not be able to live, financially busted however DVA may kick in only if the disease is related to military service. TOO BAD it is a genetic predisposition, or maybe it is Gulf War 1 syndrome. Good luck trying to convince this gov't. The other thing is why would you want to destroy your immune system today especially when a certain few out there are creating new viruses to wipe us out ..H1N1 ring a bell. Anyway banan there are other ways of treating things. I myself will hold off on this Lyrica stuff for now, I find it creepy to treat someone with such a disasterous sounding med. Too much sequelae for this cat. I am very keen on knowing more about the outcomes of such a drug since they know little about it down the road lets say in hmmmmm 5-10 years ... oh wait there has been a new study... they say people who have been taking BLANK for an extended period of time are in the risk of getting BLANK get the picture. Pesimistic, not all the time just inquisitive.

After taking Lyrica for several years, I realized something was wrong. I had gained so much weight and I was still in severe pain due to fibromyalgia and periphal neouropathy. I decided to look on Lyrica's website and there I found my answer on the last line of the website. The company listed six or so ingredients of the medication. I was definitely allergic to four of them. My podiatrist put me on Alpha Lipoic Acid and a supplement called Metanx for the tingling and pain in my feet, ankles, hands. It is under control when I take this. I am now on Cymbalta for the fibromyalgia which is working for me. I am also on many other meds for other conditions.

I also have fibromyalgia. Doctors have tried Lyrica, but I have other problems going on that just complicates everything. My hell began in 2005 with pain appearing to be pulled muscles. There appeared to be much more going on. I went from walking 3 miles daily & working out in the gym 3 times a week to running into a brick wall. Through alot of tests, it was discovered that my hips were dying due to no blood circulation. REALLY... hips dying. Left hip, there was a surgery that may save it, had to be before the age of fifty. Just did make it. They removed a bone from my left leg with an artery, drilled a hole in my left hip and hoped for the best. I had a 75% chance of this working. As for my right hip, I had said the feeling was like bone rubbing against bone and as it would turn out I wasn't very far off. Mri would show a full inch of bone missing.The first surgery was in March 2007 and 6months later I would have a total hip replacement.

Some time in the next year I would find out that I also have bulging disks. My fibro has never been under control. I still have pain involving both hips, pain shooting over the hip into my groin and down my leg to my knees. No doctor has been able to determine if my pain is from my back or if it is the fibro. They all just say that I've got so much going on. I've been in a pain management program, so I've tried everything. Procedures done on my back and every medicine and combination. I decided to detox from everything, including fentayl patches, no pain medicine, no muscle relaxers. Through all of this I had forgotten I had a underlying depression that I also have tried everything with little success. So as I lowered the Cymbalta, my mood became very low and dark. I've had to add Pristiq and Abilify along with Wellbutrin. Here we go again. Believe me I have had thoughts of there is no hope, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. This is no life. This is not living. Everyone says "you must exercise, keep moving,etc. Its just not that simple with having other issues. To say that I am deeply depressed is an understatement. Most days I do good to even get out of bed. In a few weeks I'll be seeing a new doctor at a different pain management clinic. My concern is even having the energy or motivation to go. More test, more speculation as to what is causing different areas of pain. Most days when I wake, that is if I slept, my body just feels as though its radiating throughout my entire body. Then there are the the other places of my body that my pain is off the scale. Over my left shoulder, into my neck, or pain radiating down my entire back. Also very intense lower back pain, shooting over my metal on metal artifical hip into my groin. Also my knees ache. My husband says he can call in the morning and my pain will be in one place and has moved to a different area by the time he comes home. I can be hurting so bad on one side when I go to sleep and wake with it in the other side. I know this is long... sorry... this is the first time I've ever posted anything on any site. I was googling the side effects of lyrica and stumbled on to this site and read some of the postings, realizing I am not alone. LIFE REALLY SUCKS... this is not living.

I know that there are times that it seems like living in all this pain just isn't worth it, but then there comes a day when you can do something fun, share a special moment with your spouse, be alive to encourage your children, or send a post and be an encouraged to someone who can't see any hope. You are here today, you have connected with me and I'm glad you are here. I hope you can hang in there and can find some interest in getting involved with the group here. It's a good group of people and you can always learn new things. Take gentle care -

No problem - keep in touch. Also, it is in your best interest to keep moving. I didnt - I virtually stopped due to depression and fear of what awful thing was going to happen next. And where am I? No guarantees about what might happen next, but I've stayed away from. Friends so long that they don't miss me, and my body doesn't want to move at all now. Really - force yourself to move, to leave the house, go swimming, something. It is so much harder to do once you have stopped, and really, the pain has been no less since I stopped. Hope to hear from you soon!

not everyone can take the drug lyrica, i couldnt i did like the fact i gained 50lbs with it and it made me sick to my stomach. what dose r u taking and check with the pharmacy if it interfers with the other meds u r taking. good luck

I started Lyrica about 2weeks ago for neuropathy in my feet from chemo. My throat seemed to swell and my stomach started hurting. I upped my Prilosec to twice a day. Now I have a serious case of burping... from both ends. I rarely burped before. I'm going to talk to my pharmacist today. It is helping my feet but can't take the burping any longer.

Hi yorkielover,That may be a serious allergic reaction, especially the throat swelling. Please go to your local ER as soon as possible, have someone drive you or call 911 if you must. Please let us know how you are doing?

I talked to my pharmacist ... And we decided to go back to gabapenten and not use lyrica anymore. They are interchangeable. Lyrica worked better on my neuropathy on my feet but I don't like it's side effects. Always something. After 48 zaps of radiation... 6 doses of chemo. ... I can take about anything. Thank goodness for pain pills.